This thread on my election and first year in Office, including dealing with the Rajneesh, begins with the posting on March 25, 2015. Going into the archives and starting from the beginning with assist you in understanding my posts.

On the surface it appeared that the jail was okay, but I saw issues, like the stove, that were not being addressed and were not okay and even dangerous - as I inquired about things I found that the Corrections Manager stone walled me however he could. 

If I didn’t ask something, he didn’t tell me.  He was withholding critical information from me – I couldn’t prove it at first, and I wasn’t familiar enough with a jail to know the questions to ask.

During that first year, to help me figure out what I needed to do in both the operation of the facility and keeping from being sued, I visited several jails, both older and newer and those sued and not sued. 

I talked with the Sheriff’s and their Corrections Managers trying to gain insight into what we could do to improve our jail operations.

I also took a two week CO class offer by the Board, early that spring, for certified police officers that were going to be transferred into the jails within the state.  Many Sheriffs were having to cut back on road personnel and in the process of seniority, would put them in the jails, replacing CO with less time – but they had to be certified within a year. 

I resented doing it; it was done because I couldn’t depend on my manager. I was needed at the Office – I didn’t like having to manage from two and a half hours away taking two or three daily reports from two managers I couldn’t trust to uphold my policies.

Sometime during that two week class, in the middle of the day, an incident occurred in the south part of the county.  Although it was serious, I can’t recall just what it was.  I do recall contacting the airport close by to the academy and ascertaining if they could fly me to the nearest location – which would actually have been in Madras.  Where I would have had one of my staff pick me up.

I was told they could do so and have me on my way within just a few minutes if need be.  It was serious enough that everyone in the class knew about it – I ‘think’ it was on the news.

Whatever it was got resolved quickly and I didn’t have to leave.  One of the CO at the class said that would have been a long drive.  Before I could respond, the instructor laughed and said, “Sheriffs’ charter planes in those situations.”  He hadn’t heard me, but of course he was right.  Just an aside I found interesting.

Going to the class and visiting jails, talking to Sheriffs and Corrections Managers did assist me in understanding Corrections laws and how they applied to jails. I picked up several ideas that would help us upgrade the operation.

As well as being able to ask more pointed questions of my manager.

I learned a lot from the Oregon Academy classes but had a lot of problems with one of the instructors.  He was the lead attorney, from the State Attorney General’s Office, for the State prison system.

He would go into the laws concerning incarceration and the application.  What I didn’t appreciate was his comments to CO, (and I found out he did this in every class he taught) about NOT letting their Sheriff’s kowtow to the attorney that was going around the state suing them; berating those that had done so.

First, he had no business undermining the Sheriff, especially since he was talking to CO who had no say in policy, etc.  Most were brand new recruits.

Second, most jails housed a number of pre-trial inmates.  They couldn’t make bail so they sat in jail.  The standards for a pre-trial inmate and a convicted inmate are different.

The rights of the two types are also different.  Since the convicted inmate in a jail is a misdemeanant they are treated the same as pre-trial – there isn’t enough room in any jail to keep the two separated.

In the prison system it is different, they are all convicted.  A prison inmate doesn’t have the rights a pre-trial inmate (who is presumed innocent).

This instructor was teaching county CO not prison CO, but teaching as if they had the same requirements for the inmates.

We had a bit of discussion about that, yet he was still used and some Sheriffs thought highly of him.  They knew I didn’t and would sometimes rib me about my poor opinion of him, I told them this guy isn’t teaching in our best interest AND he just didn’t ‘feel’ right.

It wasn’t too long before he left Oregon for another State to become a warden in one of their prisons.  It was a while after that, though, that it was discovered he had committed felony crimes in Oregon and was disgraced.  I got a few, ‘guess you were right’ comments from the Sheriffs.

Back to the facility.  I took what I had learned and the recommendations about changes to the jail, seriously.  

The jail was taking up too much of my time, but I had no choice.  I had a better understanding of what was going on and could catch my manager on misleading information.  He was reluctant to institute some of my changes – and sometimes said he did, but hadn’t.  He resented being told what to do in his ‘domain.’

1 Corinthians 15:20-22  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

²¹ For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

The world has many reasons given to not follow God’s Word, what is interesting is that many will use God’s Word to justify their actions. 

They will use parts of verses like: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”  To try and convince us that God will save all mankind.  Without considering all the many verses that say only if we confess our sins and accept Christ’s sacrifice for those sins and then tell others about Him.

Taking God’s Word out of context can be a dangerous thing.  Even for Christians, let me make a point:

Carla and I were talking about the Last Days.  She told me that she remembered a sermon stating that a third of the world would be destroyed. 

Our part of the world isn’t mentioned in the bible, of course the bible was written many years before those God was directing to write were aware of this part of the earth – God knew, however, since he had created it.

Carla has always wondered if the one third meant the United States and Australia were part of the third that would be destroyed, since He will destroy all islands.  Just wondering, but it is a conversation that we have had several times.

I was reading this and the conversations with Carla came back to me:

Zechariah 13:7-9 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

⁸ And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

⁹ And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

She said that 2/3^rd isn’t what she recalled – and as I looked at commentaries they say this was fulfilled when the Romans destroyed the temple, Israel and Judea in 70’s AD. 

So that couldn’t have been what she was remembering.

I mentioned the numbers to Steven who directed me to Revelation 8 which talks about 1/3 of the earth will be destroy and among other information it goes on to say 1/3 of the universe (sun, moon, stars, etc.) will be destroyed.

So I thought, “How much of the land mass on earth is made up of North and South America and Australia?”

Here is the information according to Enchantedlearning.com:

Land mass of all the earth:  57,308,738 Sq. Miles

Land mass of North America:  9,365,000 Sq. Miles    16.3%

Land mass of South America:  6,880,000 Sq. Miles    12 %

Land mass of Australia:      2,968,000 Sq. Miles     5.2%

For a total percentage of land mass:       33.5%

Wow, is Carla on to something?  Am I ready to teach this as a strong possibility of fact?  It looks really good.

THEN I read:

Revelation 6:7-8 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

⁸ And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

This doesn’t mention the land, but still it is cause for pause.

What we don’t know is if God is going to destroy those continents, or is He going to destroy 1/3 of all continents?  Is it addressed somewhere else in the Scriptures – I don’t know, yet.

While God’s message is very clear on many things, if taken out of context we can do damage to His Word, and lead others astray.  We want to be careful not to choose just phrases or a verse or two to build a truth on without comparing it to the rest of God’s Word.

When we do that we are just as guilty as those that say that God will not send anyone to hell because “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”  

So, I present to you an interesting fact, but I will not state that is God’s intent. 

My opinion is, it doesn’t matter in our daily life and testimony except to point out that time is wasting and billions of lives are at risk to eternal damnation.

We have roughly 70 years to live; of course there are those that live less time or more time before they die a natural death.

Psalm 90:9-10 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

¹⁰ The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

That is basically all the time we have to live our life, on earth, for Christ.  In some ways it seems incredibly long because of the struggles we will encounter along the way; in the most important way, though, is it is but a blip of time on our life of eternity with God.

We look back over the 2000 years since Christ was born and see many generations that have lived and died for Christ, looking for His return – and He has not yet been sent back by the Father.

We cannot know when Christ will take earth back over, what we do know is that He will.  In the meantime, tens of thousands of people die each day, for them, their time of judgment is now, and most will die without Christ.

During our life it is our responsibility to obey Him.  Taking each day as it comes, praising God to Him and to others.

What really matters is that we proclaim the Gospel so that others can learn about and come to Him through Christ.  For them, there may be no tomorrow, so, it doesn’t matter if Christ comes back tomorrow or 1000 years from now, for them, He has already come.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again